A woman who says she was unable to keep up with her family and feared getting stuck on the rollercoast after her weight rose to well over 18st has revealed how she has got done to 10 and a half.

Primary school teacher Rachel Lienerth, 39, sais her children inspired her to lose the weight after a holiday to Disneyworld in Florida left her feeling miserable.

Rachel, who lives in Ivybridge with her husband Mark, has gone from weighing more than 18st 4½lbs to 10st 8lbs – a massive weight loss of 7st 10½lbs.

“I’d never been slim,” she says.

“But my struggles began in earnest not long after I started university, when I began to feel extremely tired and unwell and was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (also known as ME), reports plymouthherald .

“Determined to become a teacher, I used every bit of energy I had to study, which meant I was constantly exhausted – there was nothing left for any sort of exercise.”

After starting her teaching career, she gradually gained more weight.

“Although I never weighed myself, I knew I was getting bigger as I kept needing larger clothes, and teaching PE lessons was more of a struggle than ever," she says.

"By the time Mark proposed, I was a size 18.

“Adamant I was going to lose weight for our wedding, I cut out puddings and biscuits, and managed to squeeze into a size-14 dress. A year later, I fell pregnant and had a constant craving for chocolate. I was a size 20 when Ruby was born, and didn’t have any headspace to worry about it – I was focused on being a mum.

“Three years later Jessie came along and I was so busy with the two of them that losing weight just wasn’t on my radar.”

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“And while they had an absolute ball, I spent the whole time feeling like my weight was holding me back.

“I struggled to keep up as they dashed around the huge theme park. ‘Are you coming on with us, Mummy?’ Ruby called back, as the two of them and their dad raced up the steps to one of the roller coasters. ‘It’s a bit hot for Mummy,’ I yelled back.

“‘I’ll sit in the shade and watch you.’ So I waited with the bags, terrified that even if I did make it up those steps, I wouldn’t be able to fit into the roller coaster’s moulded plastic seats.”

(Image: David Cummings)

It was 18 months later as she watched her girls enjoy a kick-boxing class that she pledged to lose weight – and this time she meant it.

She had joined Slimming World before but left after losing a stone. Now she was determined to stick with it.

She says: “I knew with all my heart that I wanted them to grow up with a healthy role model – a fun, energetic mum who could join in their training sessions, or sit beside them on a theme park ride or at the cinema.

“I’d go back to Slimming World as soon as possible and, this time, I wouldn’t treat it as a quick fix – I’d change my lifestyle for good. By the time Ruby started senior school, her mum would be much slimmer.”

When she first joined the Ivybridge Slimming World group, she was shocked to learn she then weighed 18st 4lb.

Ditching the pizzas and Chinese takeaways, she began experimenting with healthy meals.